TIME TO CONSIDER LEGALIZING POT, HASH

To the editor:

Perhaps it is time for New Hampshire and/or Massachusetts to
seriously consider legalizing marijuana and hashish for adult
consumption. Doing so could have a more positive than negative impact
and less harmful social and individual ramifications than currently
legal vices like alcohol, cigarettes and gambling.

Legalizing these two by-products of the hemp plant would require
courage on the part of legislators willing to bring it up in the
certainty of moral outrage by some, as well as debate and testimony
by experts, etc. And I am sure they would never be approved without
some regulation for safety, purity, etc. But if legalized, they could
provide a lucrative economic opportunity for entrepreneurs to "open
shop" and sell imported or domestic varieties, increase state
revenue, free law enforcement to focus on more serious crimes, and
reduce our prison population (the highest per capita in the world).
Alcohol is by far more dangerous, and people can and will continue to
become addicted to anything palliative, unfortunately. However, for
most individuals it is all about choice, and for the state it should
be about pragmatism.

Personally, I don't need any more vices than I've had.

Eleanor White

Derry, N.H.